As of this afternoon, Young America’s Foundation has not received any response from Marquette University’s administration regarding the faculty-involved scheme to prevent students from attending Ben Shapiro’s YAF-sponsored lecture. As far as we know, no disciplinary actions have been taken regarding those involved, and no steps have been taken to ensure conservatives have the same First Amendment protections as the rest of Marquette’s student body.

The administration has claimed that they will “work to ensure all interested may attend,” but they have yet to show any progress toward meeting that goal. Rather, Marquette’s administration has shown the event with Ben Shapiro to be anything but a priority, denying all requests for a larger venue and failing to provide any advertising support.

The official statement released by Marquette University did not offer any apologies for the actions of their staff nor take any responsibility for the hostile campus environment. Most egregiously, Marquette has failed to stand up for or offer support for our students’ right to free speech on campus.

Marquette University has inexplicably chosen to protect their staff, rather than the free speech rights of their students. Without an apology or even an attempted explanation from the University, only one conclusion can be reached: the school does not believe anyone with conservative beliefs should speak freely. Marquette is proving itself to be a haven for censor-happy faculty and staff who don’t believe they owe their students any answers for this inappropriate behavior.

This conclusion is reinforced by Marquette’s firing of Professor John McAdams, the “sole public defender of conservatism” on Marquette’s campus.

By not speaking out in support of their conservative students, Marquette is allowing an atmosphere of hate and intolerance to fester against anyone who holds views in opposition to the school’s liberal ruling class.

Ben Shapiro’s YAF lecture is scheduled for this Wednesday, February 8, and will go on as planned. The bold student activists of the Marquette Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) Chapter are committed, as is Young America’s Foundation, to ensuring conservative ideas are heard on this embattled campus.

To cover this story contact Spencer Brown via email (sbrown@yaf.org) or call 1-800-872-1776.